


Something Fishy Off the Coast of Denmark

by kattahj



Category: Eight Days of Luke - Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Adventure, Explicit Language, F/F, Gen, Implied Slash, M/M, References to Norse Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-20
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 10:24:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2809010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kattahj/pseuds/kattahj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke shows up to invite David and Astrid on a trip to Denmark. They know better than to expect an ordinary holiday.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Fishy Off the Coast of Denmark

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bagheera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bagheera/gifts).



> Thanks to Bagheera for the wonderful prompt, to oneiriad for help with the Danish, and to roseveare and skygiants for the rest of the beta.  
> I got a lot of inspiration from reading The Orchard Books of Creation Stories by Margaret Mayo and Valhalla by Peter Madsen et al.

David's first days of winter holiday had been quite boring. Alan's family had gone to Scotland, and there was no snow or anything else to provide entertainment outside. In the end, he and a couple of other boys from school had decided on cricket, despite the season, at least taking advantage of the frustrating mildness of the weather. He was just on his way to the park when he saw Luke leaning against the fence, giving him a lazy wave.

Even though they hadn't seen each other in years, there was no doubt about it being Luke. He looked exactly the same – at least for the first few seconds, then David stepped closer and saw that Luke was now older, just as David was.

“Hello,” David said cautiously. He wondered how to ask what Luke was doing there without making it sound like he didn't _want_ him there.

“Hello,” Luke said, giving him a bright smile with promises of fun and adventures that made David's stomach flip.

“It's been a while,” David said, scuffing his shoe against the gravel.

“Far too long.” Luke narrowed his eyes and tilted his head up to the feeble winter sun. “In fact, I thought I'd make it up to you. How would you feel about going on a trip with me? You and Astrid.”

The chances of this offer having no hidden drawbacks such as illegality, danger, or irate aesir coming to sort Luke out seemed less than nil. To his own surprise, David found that this made him more eager to agree.

“Now?” he asked. “I'm off to play cricket. And Astrid's got one of her heads.”

“No, not now. You'd have to pack first, for one thing. This afternoon? Or tomorrow, if you'd rather.”

Packing implied more than a little day trip to Bristol or somewhere.

“Where are we going?”

“Denmark, for starters,” Luke said, and then, before David could react, “You'll be late for your game. Do you want me to come along?”

“You should check with Astrid,” David said slowly, because Denmark wasn't something he could agree to just like that, and anyway, he wasn't ready to drag his school mates into this.

Luke gave him a scrutinizing look, and then grinned. “All right, you go have your game and I'll try to persuade Astrid. I'll be mindful of her head, don't worry. You say hello to your friends from me!”

“Okay,” David said automatically, not bothering to point out that Luke didn't even know his friendsom. He bounced his cricket bat a couple of times on the ground before he headed off. “See you later, then.”

He didn't mention Luke to his friends, obviously, but he did spend much of the game mulling the proposal. Denmark was a Nordic country, meaning that Luke would be back on his home turf for whatever he had planned, but for David it was new territory. Though the various educational camps he'd been sent to had sometimes brought him abroad, Denmark was a white spot on his map, and the chance of not just seeing a new country, but seeing the mythological aspects of that country, was too good to miss. It would just have been a lot simpler if he'd known what Luke was planning, but maybe he could find out before they left. He wondered what Luke was saying to Astrid, right now...

Paying attention to the game was next to impossible, with all that on his mind. Twice he was caught out of his ground when he had no reason to be, and he missed wickets more often than he hit them. Finally, he batted a ball into a thorn bush and they had to spend twenty minutes trying to find it and get it out.

After that, nobody was in the mood for playing anymore. They were all grubby and sweating, and Johnny had torn his trousers.

“Are you sure you're feeling all right?” Gerald asked David as the boys started trotting off in various directions.

“Yes. Sorry.” David sighed and shook his head. “Just a lot going on. Nothing bad. Promise.”

Gerald let it slide, and David returned home, wondering if that promise was really true.

* * *

When he got back, he found Astrid in the kitchen, slightly pale and subdued, but her eyes were sparkling. If that wasn't evidence enough that Luke had worked his customary charm on her, the culprit himself sat on the workbench, feet beating out a jaunty rhythm against the cupboard doors.

“What do you say to Denmark?” Astrid asked David as he came in, not even making any comment about the state of his clothes.

“I say I've never been,” David said, taking some paper towels to wipe his bat clean.

“Me neither. And I really should do, seeing how my grand-mum was from there.”

“Right.” David's gaze turned to Luke, who was watching them intensely. “It's a great opportunity. Thanks.” Something tickled the back of his neck, and he scratched it away, finding that it was a leaf. “I should go clean myself up. Back in a mo.”

David threw his jacket in the laundry, and as he washed his face, he heard steps. Looking up, he could see Astrid's face in the mirror.

“He's planning something,” he said.

“I know,” she agreed. “I really want to go, though. Is that terrible? Not just for the sake of seeing Denmark. I mean, that would be lovely, but...”

“For him, too,” David said, wiping his face. “I know. Me too.”

The corners of her mouth turned down in a dubious grimace. “So we both agree that whatever's going on, it's worth it?”

“Thing is,” he said, “if he's really in some sort of trouble, I can't just let him rush into it without us. If I didn't come when he asked, I'd always wonder.”

“Settled, then,” Astrid said, knocking a couple of times on the door frame. “As long as we're on the same page.”

Damp-haired and at least somewhat cleaner, David returned to the kitchen along with Astrid. Luke must have known what they had been discussing, but he didn't show it, just carried on as cheerfully as before.

“So, Denmark,” Luke said, clapping his hands together. “Are we all going? Today? Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow will do,” Astrid said firmly. “Will you stay the night?”

“Better not,” Luke said, without specifying why. “But I will stay for supper.”

Having Luke over felt completely natural, even after all this time, and even after all the things David knew about him. In fact, part of the fun was learning more, because while the library was good for a lot of things, its accuracy in terms of Norse mythology was doubtful.

“True or false,” David said at supper, pointing his egg-filled fork at him. “Thor in a dress.”

“Oh, true,” Luke assured him. “Absolutely true, and you should have seen him. Least convincing cross dresser ever, thank fortune for bridal veils. Ugh!” He shook his head in comic horror. “I, on the other hand, was a bedazzling beauty, as I always am.”

“I have a hard time imagining you as a girl,” David said, sizing Luke up. That long, skinny body wasn't very girl-shaped, and there was a slight reddish fuzz on his cheeks that hadn't been there before. The angular face might be passable, though, with some make-up.

Luke winked. “Be a good boy, and you may not have to imagine it.”

“True or false: eight-legged horse?” Astrid asked, raising her eyebrows.

This time, Luke's smile was more guarded. “The horse exists. The manner in which it came to be may be best left in the dark.”

“How about eating women's hearts?”

“Some things may have been embellished in the telling,” Luke said, smile back in full force.

Astrid smiled too, and there was something in that smile that set David on edge.

“True or false,” he cut in. “There's something in particular you want us to do in Denmark.”

David would have expected this to cause, if not honesty, then at least some kind of awkwardness, but Luke only laughed.

“I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for sightseeing if that's what you want,” he said. “Why don't you make a list? I'll try to fit in anything you'd like. Think of me as your fairy godmother.”

There was no use trying to get more information than that out of him, and David let the matter drop, at least for the time being. During the rest of supper, they kept up a light conversation, even making plans for Danish tourist attractions.

“Tivoli,” said David. “Obviously.”

“The aquarium,” said Astrid. “And Louisiana museum.”

“Christiania,” said David, which make Luke burst into giggles and Astrid, for once, pull authority.

“No. Absolutely not. Not until you're older. Actually, not even when you're older. Not ever.”

Luke laughed so hard he got a piece of carrot stuck in his throat, his face bursting into tiny little flames as he worked to dislodge it.

“Don't worry, David,” he finally managed to cough out. “I'll take you to Christiania. When you're older.”

“We'll see about that,” said Astrid, but she didn't seem angry.

As for David, he finished the rest of his meal with renewed appetite, both at this promise of future adventure, and at the one lying ahead.

* * *

Early in the morning, Luke returned, and the three of them stuffed themselves, as well as Astrid's and David's bags, into Astrid's little car, and they drove together to the airport. David needled Luke a couple of times about their purpose, but Luke slid away from the question each time with admirable skill.

“If you're bored,” Luke teased, “we can always do a sing-along. I know all the verses to Kåta Maja. Or, hang on, not in English. How about the four and twenty virgins?”

“I think that's too advanced for David,” Astrid said, eyes still on the road.

“The ones coming down from Inverness?” David said. “I learned it in school.”

“Two against one,” Luke said sweetly.

“I'm not against anything,” Astrid said. “I know it too.”

  
So they sang of the four and twenty virgins, and then they sang of the hedgehog, and a few other tunes in that vein, with Luke even making an on-the-spot translation of Kåta Maja that had the other two in stitches. The musical filth lasted them all the way to the airport, where they only fell silent because the first person they encountered on the way in was an old woman trying to balance a carpet bag on her walker.

Astrid stopped to help the old woman and sent the other two off to get the bags checked. Luke carried Astrid's bag, having none of his own. Perhaps gods didn't make use of such things as toothbrushes, David thought, although they did seem to eat and drink – and Luke's breath was certainly no worse for it.

“Here we go, Copenhagen,” David said and stepped into line. When he looked over his shoulder, he found that Luke was no longer there, just Astrid's bags standing on the floor. He craned his neck trying to spot his friend beyond the tall, wide-shouldered woman who had taken the place behind him in the line.

“Are you missing something?” she asked, kindly enough. The hood of her fur cloak was up, but a long braid peeked out on one side, and the eyes glittered in her craggy face.

“My friend,” he said. “He was with me a moment ago.”

“Does he know where you went?” she asked. “Then I shouldn't worry. Perhaps he needed to use the men's room, or there was something else urgent at hand. He'll find his way back.”

“I suppose,” David said, uneasy, because when Luke disappeared like this, it tended to mean that his relatives were in close proximity.

“First time in Copenhagen?” the woman prompted. “Your friend's idea?”

“Mm,” David said, and then he had a thought that made him take another look at the woman, her height, the intensity of her gaze.

Her mouth quirked upwards. “I'm Sadie,” she said. “Sadie Chase.”

“David,” he said, wondering if it would be premature to ask her if she was a Norse Goddess, and what she'd say to that if she wasn't. Probably it would come off as a bad attempt at flirting, and his ears heated at the very thought.

“I'll see you in Copenhagen, David,” she said. “Hurry along, now. It's your turn to check your bags.”

David checked the bags in and then headed back towards the entrance, where Astrid was still busy with her elderly companion. Coming closer, David heard that the old lady was rattling off an impressive number of ailments. By the peevish look on Astrid's face, she was severely tempted to start off an illness contest like the ones she used to have with Uncle Bernard. This time, though, she held her tongue, not even bringing up her migraines.

When David reached them, Astrid's hand pounced upon him like a talon, and she excused herself with a tight smile before walking off, with the fastest strides that she could manage in her high heels, towards the gate.

“Thank God I got rid of her!” she muttered. “Where's Luke?”

“Don't know,” David said. “I think they might be after him again. Does the name Sadie Chase tell you anything?”

Astrid shook her head. “Now what do we do?”

That was the question, rather. If Luke's relatives really were out to get him, then perhaps he'd do best to stay hidden. On the other hand, they couldn't very well leave without him.

David had left his only match book in his luggage, and he wasn't sure you could call Luke with ordinary matches anyway, but it was better than doing nothing, so he grabbed the nearest stranger, “Pardon, do you have a light?”

Getting a negative answer, he kept asking until a man in a smart blue suit lent him a silver lighter and then watched in puzzlement as David lit it without having a cigarette at hand.

Just as David handed the lighter back, failing to have come up with even the flimsiest of excuses for his odd behaviour, Luke sauntered out of a bathroom.

“Come on, then,” he said, as though he'd never left. “If I know Astrid right, she'll want to spend some time in the tax-free shops.”

“Have they broken the deal?” David asked in a low voice as they went back to where Astrid was waiting.

Luke seemed to understand instantly. “I hope not,” he said with a laugh, “or I'd be in real trouble, wouldn't I?”

“How much trouble are you in otherwise?” David insisted. “Do you know a woman called Sadie Chase?”

“Nope!” Luke said, catching up with Astrid and taking her under the arm. “How about some shopping? My treat!”

“Well, do you know anyone who might _call_ herself Sadie Chase? Tall, craggy looking, fur coat?”

Luke stopped to think. “Just a coincidence, in that case,” he said, walking off.

Astrid gave David an apologetic look over the shoulder. With her help, perhaps he could have pinned Luke down for two seconds, but he should have known that, having been promised shopping, she'd be no help at all.

* * *

Astrid bought enough dresses in the tax-free shops that it took her and Luke's combined charm to get them on board the plane. At first, David made some attempts to bring up the subject of Norse Gods again, but Luke directed him towards a large tub of wine gums and Fred Trueman's autobiography, which was more of a temptation than David could handle. He relented, sitting down with the two bribes and instead sharing quotes with Luke about great moments in cricket history. Luke sat with his back to David's and listened, laughing at the funny bits and providing a warm, comfortable place to lean on. It was enough to make anyone forget their worries.

He did mean to ask again on the plane, but instead, he fell asleep almost instantly and didn't wake up until the plane took ground again, outside Copenhagen.

Luke shunted them towards Tivoli as soon as they'd left their luggage at the hotel, and they all had a splendid time, though Astrid opted out of the tallest rides, blaming vertigo.

“Bet I can pop one of those Ferris wheel balloons,” Luke murmured in David's ear.

“Bet you shouldn't,” David whispered back, but he was laughing. This was just like back when they were kids – well, when _he_ was a kid, though it was easy to forget Luke's actual age when they were hanging upside-down in roller coasters or whacking toy moles with clubs. Astrid, to David's surprise, was fierce with the club too, and he didn't even think Luke was cheating for her. Though there was no doubt that Luke was cheating at _something_ , considering the number of trinkets they won.

Walking back along the waterfront, they were passing some old fortress when suddenly Luke stiffened.

“Oh, _shit_!” he hissed and grabbed the hands of both David and Astrid. “Run!”

A rumble behind them left no room for discussion, and they all ran. The spiky heel of one of Astrid's boots came off, and she hurried to unzip them and kept running in her stockings. David threw a glance over his shoulder and saw a dark grey woman with four oxen driving down the street after them. The ground was ploughed up where she raced by, and people ran screaming out of the way. She seemed about to catch up with them when Luke screwed his eyes closed for a moment and a large truck came careening across the way from the harbour, straight through the fence and onto the promenade, where it caught fire.

“Luke, the truck driver!” David protested.

“I'll give him time to escape!” Luke said. “Go! Go!”

They kept running, and passed a bronze statue of a naked young woman looking mournfully at the sea – but as they came closer, she turned her head and shouted:

“Loke, dit fjols, hvad tror du lige du har gang i?”

Luke cursed, still running, and the rock beneath the girl caught fire. She jumped off it into the water, legs transforming into glittering fish scales as she did so.

“Rend mig i røven, asestodder!” she cried out, flipping her singed tail.

That made Luke laugh, despite the situation, and he called back: “Du har jo ikke engang en røv, din torsk! Oh, don't be like that,” he added when Astrid made a harsh grunt behind him. “I didn't hurt her.”

David saw that this wasn't the problem at all. Since she'd removed her boots, Astrid's stockings had been torn apart, and her feet were in a bad shape too, with several scrapes and cuts. Running would soon no longer be an option, and he glanced back to see how immediate the danger was.

To his surprise, the woman with the oxen was still far behind, beyond the burning truck, and he could hear a faint wailing of sirens. It seemed there was a limit to how much mayhem you were allowed to cause in the Danish capital, even if you were a statuesque deity.

Luke saw it too, and pulled to a halt, taking in Astrid's appearance. He bent down, took hold of her ankles, and slowly made the torn stockings knit together again. Once they were all in one piece again, he held out his hand, and the shoes she'd been wearing came flying back into his grip, heel once again re-attached.

“Here you are,” he said, presenting them to Astrid with a small bow and a wry face. “Sorry about that. I wish I could mend your feet as well.”

“I've got bunion pads in my handbag,” Astrid said. “Just get me somewhere I can change and I'll be fine.”

David watched with a hard, cold knot in his stomach that didn't make any sense. He liked Astrid. They'd banded together against his relatives, and after that they'd been in the habit of banding together and he really did try to treat her nicely, even when she had one of her heads and got all snappy. But somehow, when Luke treated her nicely, he didn't like it.

“Can you make it as far as the ferries?” Luke asked.

“Luke!” David said, and it came out rough enough that he had to clear his throat and try again. “Luke, don't you think it's about time you told us what's going on?”

Luke started walking again, towards the ferries, and the others followed. After a moment, he nodded. “I've been sent on a mission,” he said. “And there are those who'd rather that I didn't complete it.”

“That's nice and vague,” David said harshly.

The smile Luke gave him was much fainter than usual. “I'm afraid if I tell you too much, you won't want me to complete it either.”

“Is it one that shouldn't be completed?” Astrid asked, limping along.

“It's...” He frowned. “That would be easier. Possibly even better. But I've been given some good arguments to do it, too – one of them being to keep my head on my shoulders.”

That mollified David somewhat. If it was a life or death situation, clearly they had to get Luke out of it, one way or another. “Seems like people were ready to kill you if you do go ahead with it too.”

“Which complicates matters a little further,” Luke agreed. “I'm looking for a way to have my cake and eat it too. And you're here because human beings are experts at coming up with off-the-cuff thinking that even the gods fail to match... and because I trust you. And I don't trust a whole lot of people.”

His gaze was still fixed on the nearby ferry, and David and Astrid traded guilty glances behind his back.

They proceeded as quickly as they could manage without running, and soon reached the ferries. There were a number of people waiting to be let on board, and Luke stopped short before reaching the queue. At first, David couldn't tell why, but then he spotted a fur cloak and a long braid.

“Sadie Chase,” David said. “You said it was coincidence!”

“May have been wrong about that,” Luke admitted, turning his steps in another direction. “Not taking the chance. Come on, we'll rent a boat.”

* * *

Several of the boats in the harbour were pleasing to the eye, but Luke headed straight for a beaten-up old fishing vessel and convinced the captain to take them along, with the help of sums of money that somehow never seemed to make it into the man's wallet.

At first, as they passed through the Sound, they were all focused on the land area behind them, but as the sea spread out before them without any enemies in sight, Luke relaxed a little.

“Might have shaken them off for the time being,” he said. “Won't last long, though.”

“Where are we going?” David asked, fishing around in his pocket for his gloves, only to realise that he had accidentally left them by the popcorn stall in Tivoli.

Luke didn't reply, just looked around until he found a bucket. Tying the bucket to a rope, he tossed it overboard, filled it with water and started pulling it up.

“There may be enough now to tell,” he said, more to himself than to the others.

“Enough what?”

The bucket back on board, Luke put his hand in the water – which must be near-freezing cold, David reflected – and sifted around with his fingers. Faint glimmers of purple light appeared in the water, and Luke waved them together like dust bunnies during spring cleaning, until he had enough that he could wrap his fingers around them and pull at something that molded into a thin purple thread, connecting to the rest of the purple glimmer still in the bucket.

“There we go,” Luke said, dumping the rest of the water back in the sea.

The glimmer spread like barely visible cobweb across the sea.

“We'll follow this,” he said, “and it should lead us in the right direction."

Astrid leaned against the railing next to him. “Looks like it's going in every direction.”

“We'll find the core,” Luke said, attention on his task.

He didn't say anything to either of them after that, just gathered up the strands of purple light, back rigid and gaze turned to the horizon. After a while, Astrid tired and went into the deck-house to fix up her feet. Though it wasn't a cold winter, the winds made it unpleasant to stand outside, and David couldn't blame her. He was starting to dearly miss his gloves.

Luke's pose was tense. Whatever he was doing, it was strenuous, and David wanted to help in whatever way he could. Though his presence seemed to make little difference, he walked up close and put his hand on top of Luke's, to show support – and was shocked by the burning heat radiating from it. Instinctively, he snatched his hand away and stared at the redness spreading across his fingers. He hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand on Luke's shoulder instead. With the layer of clothing between, the heat was bearable, even pleasant. Whether or not Luke noticed the touch was impossible to tell.

David remained where he was, holding onto Luke to maybe no avail, until Astrid reappeared from the deck house.

“David, can I have a word with you?” she asked, and he reluctantly followed her inside. She threw a glance at the boat's captain – what he thought about all this was anybody's guess – and said, “I'm thinking maybe I should warn you off, but I have a feeling it might be too late for that.”

“I thought we agreed we'd help out?” David asked, puzzled.

“I meant Luke,” Astrid said.

David felt his eyes prick, though it might just be leftover sensation from the wind outside.

“You could get hurt,” she said helplessly. “In fact, you probably will. Not to mention that he's much too old for you.”

“To old for you too, in that case,” he said, sticking his burned hand in his pocket.

“I never said he wasn't.” She smiled a little at his expression. “I enjoy a gentleman's behaviour as much as the next girl, but that's all it is, and he knows it as well as I do. But it's more than that to you, isn't it?”

David looked out the window at Luke's frozen figure. “You're right, it's too late.”

“That's what I thought,” she said. “I'd tell you to wait, but I know what teenagers are like. Just remember, however young he may look to you, that he's _not_. Remember what he is, and be careful. Don't just rush into something because it feels good. I know a little something about the consequences of that.”

That was a sobering thought. At some point, Astrid must have fallen in love with Cousin Ronald, and decided that it was a good idea to marry him and move in with his parents. David hadn't been there for that part, and had never really considered it, but strange though it seemed, it must have been a strong passion indeed, to make Uncle Bernard and Aunt Dot seem worth it. And how horrid to wake up afterwards, realizing what you'd done!

Of course, Luke was no Cousin Bernard - far from it. But knowing the things that David knew about him...

“All right,” he said, eyes on Luke, longing to go back out there. “I promise.”

* * *

It was several hours later, with David back by Luke's side and Astrid asleep on a bench in the deck-house, when Luke straightened up so quickly that David lost his footing and had to do a little jig not to fall over.

The purple thread in Luke's hand was more of a rope, by now, and he called out, “Here it is!”

The boat's captain rushed out to help him, and they scrambled with nets and rigging. Eventually they got the nets in the water, but had a hell of a trouble getting them out until Luke grabbed them and hauled them up with sheer physical force, the boat cringing and creaking under the strain.

Instead of fish, there were two dark, round objects lying at the bottom of the net. As Luke untangled them and carried them aside, David saw that it was stones: two stones the size of tractor wheels, one of which had a hole with a piece of wood stuck into it.

“You brought us here to pick up some rocks?” he asked.

“Millstones,” Astrid said. She'd wrapped her arms around herself, and her eyes were wide. “Those are millstones.”

It took David a moment to remember the myth she was referring to. “ _The_ millstones?” Why would Luke want... but of course, those millstones could mill anything, not just salt. In the myth, they'd been used to mill wealth and prosperity, as well as armies. Luke had just been made immensely more powerful, and David wasn't at all sure how that power would be used.

A sharp thump shook the boat, then another. They ran over, and saw long shapes move under the surface.

“Seals?” David asked.

“Porpoises,” the captain said. As another, different shape appeared, he added, “ _And_ seals. Hvad faen?”

“All right, let's get back,” Luke said, hastily drawing away.

There were still more thumps, and the captain returned to the deck-house, trying to steer the boats between the attacking sea creatures. David looked down at the waves and thought he saw pale human faces, first one, then another.

“Are those mermaids?” he asked.

“No,” said Luke tersely. He was in the process of raising the nets into the air, dropping them down the sides of the boat and letting them grow, until every aspect of marine life was kept away by a floating sheet of hemp. Nevertheless, the shoals of mammals and fish forced the boat off course, bit by bit, until finally...

“Oh, my God, it's a whale,” Astrid said, staring at the latest addition to the attacking forces.

Luke let out a curse so fiery that it burned the edges of the railing under his hands.

The captain called out: “There's an island at ten o'clock, I'm seeking harbour there!”

“You do that!” Luke called back.

“Luke,” David said quietly, a knot forming in his stomach. “If they're driving us in that direction... isn't that island a trap?”

Luke sighed. “Well, I guess this is as good a time as any.”

The path ahead of them cleared as they approached the island, while the animals remained on three sides of the boat to prevent them from going in any other direction.

There were small groves of trees on the island, as well as a couple of cottages, and as the boat turned into harbour, David could see a single human-looking figure waiting for them on the wharf.

A tall figure, with a craggy face and a fur cloak.

* * *

“You're a bit off your territory, aren't you?” Luke said as he stepped off the boat.

Sadie Chase gave him a tight smile. “Just doing the ex a favour. He knew it'd take a giant to put them back.”

“Are you so sure that's what you want to do?” Luke asked jauntily as he stepped in Sadie's way. “Hengikjopt does have a claim to them, you know.”

“He's going to have to deal with it,” Sadie said firmly. “The ocean life depends on them.”

“And what of his kinswomen?” Luke asked. “He's asked for them back too, you know. Should I tell him to 'deal with it'?”

Sadie hesitated.

“Step inside,” she said at last, nodding towards the nearest cottage. “We'll talk it through.”

Apart from the captain, who stayed in the deckhouse, all went into the cottage. It turned out to be quaintly decorated with new but traditional furniture, and an open fire at one end. Sadie sat down at the table and motioned for the others to do so also.

“This isn't about Hengikjopt and his claims,” she said. “Marine life has evolved to require salt water. If you don't put the stones back, everything living in the ocean will die. Then everything that lives off what lives in the ocean. In the end, people too.”

“Hang on,” David broke in, because this line of reasoning frightened him. “The ocean is salt because minerals dissolve as rocks are broken up in the sea. That's happening all over the world, not just here, and not because of those millstones.”

“Everything has to come from somewhere,” Sadie said, her eyes on Luke. “Even magic. You call it natural because it's all you know. But if the millstones no longer mill salt, the salt will no longer be dissolved from the rocks and the rain. Gradually, slowly, but inevitably, the ocean will turn fresh, and the entire ecosystem will perish.”

“Very well, then,” Luke said, holding her gaze. “Throw them back. Tell Hengikjopt that his property will remain stolen and his kinswomen enslaved, because Njord's wife has a bigger picture to think of.”

“ _Ex_ -wife,” said Sadie. “And it's not just us. Every pantheon on Earth is involved, by now. I heard you burned Poseidon's grand-daughter.”

“Only singed her a little,” Luke said. “And she was being very rude.”

“You know this has to be done. That's why you dawdled so long in Copenhagen. You _wanted_ me to catch up with you.”

It hadn't occurred to David before, but now he realized that Sadie was right. Spending a whole day in shops and funfairs made no sense if you were carrying out an important mission, not unless you wanted to postpone that mission as long as possible.

“I wanted one of you to sit down and say it,” Luke said. “That you'll let Fenja and Menja go back into slavery.”

“Their chains broke aeons ago,” Sadie countered. “They could have freed themselves then.”

“Ever heard of the caged bear? It could only walk ten steps in each direction. Then it was let out of its cage – and it still only walked ten steps. It had forgotten how to take the eleventh.”

“This is touching!” Sadie's voice was scathing. “Am I to believe that Loke, God of mischief, cares so much about a pair of random giantesses?”

“I was hired,” Luke said sharply, “because I _am_ the God of mischief. As you are all so keen to tell me, I have no morals, no scruples, and I'm not afraid to stir up the status quo. I've been in prison for thousands of years. I know how that eats at a soul – and I was _guilty_. Go ahead and throw the innocent to the sharks if you will, but know that that's what you're doing.”

“Perhaps they would go willingly.”

“Why don't you ask, then?”

Someone knocked on the door, and Luke leaned back. “Speak of the devil.”

Sadie opened, letting in two wet, bedraggled ladies, with long tangled hair and no clothes beyond the occasional draping of seaweed. Their nakedness was too pathetic to be enticing, and at Sadie's ushering they sat down at the table and propped themselves up by the elbows, giving Luke two identical glares.

David sneaked a glance at Astrid, seeing that she, too, was afraid to get involved, knowing what was at state. As a human being and an indirect part of the ecosystem, he obviously knew that sea salt was necessary – and as for the millstones, they were probably better off kept away from where their power could be misused. Still...

“What say you, ladies?” Luke asked in a mocking tone. “Are you longing to get back to your watery home?”

“The millstones must be returned,” one of them said.

“And what of you two?” Luke asked. “Your kinsman has been asking for you. Would you rather go back?”

Fenja and Menja sat quiet. After a while, one of them said slowly, “I suppose we'll have to.”

“Those millstones can mill anything. You milled prosperity for King Frode, then after he betrayed you, you milled enemies. When those enemies betrayed you as well, you milled salt. And every single day since then, you've milled salt. Long after your chains broke. The world is living off your tears, so look me in the eye and tell me that you're content.”

In the silence that followed, Sadie got up, abruptly, and went to poke at the fire. David got the impression that she was ashamed, that all of them were, him too, because they knew that the giantesses would have to return, regardless what Luke said, and it was clear that they didn't want to.

“Can't someone else do it?” he asked, desperate for a solution. “In shifts, even?”

“Giants aren't known for their altruism,” Luke said. “Or their love of the ocean. Or what say you, Skadi? And practically speaking, those shifts would have to be quite long. I'm afraid union deals wouldn't cover this situation, David.”

The giantesses, who'd been looking up with some interest at David's suggestion, lowered their heads again.

“What about industrialization?” Astrid asked slowly, as if she wasn't sure of her own suggestion. “Couldn't you make some sort of machine to drive the millstones around?”

Sadie turned around and raised her eyebrows at Luke, who pursed his lips. Fenja and Menja took their elbows off the table, looking interested.

“The dwarves might,” Luke said. “Steep as anything, but then, Hengikjopt has the gold to spare. It would have to be sturdy, to last under the sea, made from a material that doesn't rust or break. And the power... but the waves might power it. Yes, that's a thought, _if_ they could manage, and _if_ we can afford the price...”

“Or you could ask the millstones to mill one for you,” David filled in. “Couldn't you? If it mills anything? And then tell it to keep milling salt until someone asks it to stop?”

“And now and again have someone swimming down to ask it to mill for repairs,” Luke said, a glint of excitement appearing in his eyes. “All right, let's give it a try.”

They all returned to the boat, where Fenja and Menja took up position by the millstones, as well as Sadie and Luke.

“Mill a machine to mill you,” they chanted. “Mill it strong, mill it to last, and once it's milled, mill salt! Mill salt until you're told to stop!”

The millstones went around and around, first slowly, then in a buzz too fast to see. At first there was no discernible effect. Then the boat started creaking, and the railing came loose, heading for the millstones, followed by another creak from underneath.

“My boat!” shouted the captain. He'd been remarkably lenient about their weird behaviour so far, but this distressed him greatly.

“Shit! We're sinking!” David said. As they were still near the shore, he wasn't so worried for his own sake, but the four millers were still working. What would happen to their work if the millstones sank in the middle of it?

More bits of metal and plastic flew in towards the buzzing circle, obscuring the four figures in the middle. Water started leaking up around David's feet, and he ran towards the wharf, Astrid and the captain in tow.

When the boat sank, the four millers were still on board, surrounded by metal buzzing around as mosquitoes. They seemed to be working even as they went under, because trees loosened from the groves on the island and disappeared undersea like huge divers.

David held his breath until he saw Luke's red hair bobbing at the surface. With quick breast strokes, Luke swam ashore and hauled himself up on the wharf. Tiny flickers of flame evaporated the water into wisps of steam leaving his body.

“That's that,” he said. “Nothing more we can do now. Let's see how it turns out.”

Soon thereafter, Sadie appeared too, without her fur cloak and grumbling a little about that fact. Fenja and Menja were still not in sight.

The three humans and two gods stood staring at the sea, the captain moaning over his lost boat, and the rest saying nothing.

“All of that and they still had to go back,” David said at long last.

“It was a good idea,” Sadie said. “Worth a try.”

Suddenly, Astrid gasped and squeezed David's arm so hard that he could feel her nails through his clothes. “No, look! There they are!”

A long distance away, Fenja and Menja came swimming back, and they waved cheerfully towards the people on the wharf.

“It's back in place now,” one of them said.

“And the machine is working,” said the other.

“Your husband promised to look after it,” said the first one.

“ _Ex_ -husband,” said Sadie. “Oh, brilliant!”

Luke gave one of his widest, most boyish grins. “I knew I could trust the humans to come up with a solution! All right, then, time to hitch a ride back to Copenhagen. You two still haven't seen the aquarium or Louisiana, as I promised you.”

“Can I come along?” Sadie asked. “I don't care much for aquariums, but it's been too long since I saw Louisiana.”

“If you've been before,” Astrid said, “you can show me all the bits you liked best!”

Sadie smiled. “It's a date!”

The smile Astrid gave her in return was so beaming that David pulled her aside and whispered:

  
“What happened to 'too old for you'?”

“Oh, shush,” Astrid whispered back. “I'm an adult and I know what I'm doing.”

David wasn't so sure, but he wasn't about to argue, especially not since it'd leave him more time alone with Luke.

At the moment, Luke was busy calling their ride. He placed himself at the edge of the shore and gave a long, sharp whistle.

The sky cracked with thunder. Soon a speck appeared on the horizon, and coming closer, it turned out to be a wagon pulled across the sky by goats, and driven by the ginger-haired man from all those years ago.

“What now, then?” he asked, taking them all in, but he was laughing.

So was Luke. “Just a quick trip to Copenhagen, if you please. And we should get this gentleman some remuneration for his boat.”

The Captain, who'd been gaping at Luke's friend ever since he arrived, shook out of it. “I... if it's not too much to ask, mister... Thor?”

“I'm sure we can manage a boat,” Thor said with a grin.

“Also,” Luke said, gesturing towards Fenja and Menja, “these two ladies need to get back to their kin.”

That reminded David on another issue, and as everyone climbed on board the wagon, David held Luke back.

“What about that bloke Hengikjopt?” he asked. “He still wants his millstones back, doesn't he? Isn't he looking to kill you otherwise?”

“Oh, I can deal with Hengikjopt,” Luke said dismissively. “He'll just have to learn not to be greedy.”

With that, he climbed into the wagon, and David did too, thinking that he would never, in all his life, fully understand the way Luke worked.

But he liked the thought of spending a whole lifetime trying to figure it out. 


End file.
